Counting Jews and Jews Counting
Demographic Trends in Israel
Uzi Rebhun, Gilad Malach & Ruth Gavison write about demographic trends in Israel—asking what level of Jewish majority Israel needs in order to be both Jewish and democritic.
Counting What Matters: A Roundtable
A Roundtable with Shawn Landres, Tobin Belzer, Keren McGinity, Benjamin Phillips, Diane Tobin, and Jack Ukeles explores the questions demographers ask. “Counting Jews has become increasingly difficult and what is probably more important today is having a sense of what leads to what — that is, the connections between factors — because that will help shape communal policy. What factors are associated with raising Jewish children? With communal engagement?”
Why Counting Can Be Counterproductive
Noam Pianko ruminates on the wisdom of counting. “The process of counting promotes a misleading belief that Jewishness is an unchanging and core dimension of identity. … Yet, categories of identity today are more fluid and nuanced than counting can fully capture.”
Compassion vs. Justice
Bonnie Koppell
Rabbi Amy Eilberg poignantly articulates the visceral Jewish response to the Arizona law, AZ SB 1070, when she writes that, “My heart tells me there is only one authentically Jewish response to the immigration debate raging in our country.” Yes, we Jews have always stood in solidarity with the stranger, the outsider. It is [...]
Discussion Guide – Counting Jews and Jews Counting
1. Why are there two commandments to take a census in the Torah?
2. Do you count your “days” forward or backward? Do you look more often to future days or do you reminisce about your personal history?
3. Is counting counterproductive? Is it helpful, or not, to use communal resources to know our numbers?
